Time Never Forgets
by sawyersays
Summary: 200 years after her regeneration, the Doctor still won't revisit Earth. What she doesn't realize is that it has changed. Time has changed and certain people are back from the dead. The mystery only deepens when the Doctor's face changes yet again. How could anyone resist investigating - especially when everything seems to be tied to a certain teacher frozen between heartbeats?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** Got this idea out of the blue last night after binging some Who while doing homework. It will evolve into a long piece and might end up becoming part of a series. Too early to tell. Anyways, let me know if you like it. It's a short chapter, but I thought I'd start slow since I haven't written any fiction in a while. Of course, Whouffaldi and eventually rated M.

* * *

She rested her head against her beloved TARDIS as her legs dangled and lightly swished through the artificial air. Her gaze rested on Xanarok, a planet that she hadn't visited since her long scarf and jelly baby days. The TARDIS clanged a little and the Doctor looked at it accusingly.

"Don't judge me. I'm the Doctor. I'm a Timelord from Gallifrey. I've lived for 3000 years and not all of them good. I deserve a moment to be nostalgic." The Doctor hoisted herself up and walked to the console as she heard a grunt of skepticism. The TARDIS appeared as a holograph of Idris, resting directly in front of the Doctor.

"So you're nostalgic just because you haven't been here in centuries?" She crossed her arms and gave an amused smirk.

"Sure, why not? I've lived long enough. Why is it so unbelievable that I missed a planet?"

"Oh my dear Doctor. I believe you missed a planet, just not this one."

The Doctor made a glare that would even rival her previous incarnation.

"Now don't give me that look. Why must you do this anytime I bring up Earth? It's only natural to miss it."

"I don't,"

"Yes, you do." The TARDIS interjected. Her expression suddenly turned sad. "Doctor, you've been defending that planet since the day you stole me. You ran and you ran and you happened upon the blue-green rock - full of people and mystery. You always liked mysteries. Always wanted a problem to solve." Her voice softened. "Earth, home of the utterly ordinary and yet you met so much more. Ardent feminists, blonde shop girls, students willing to risk it all... an impossible girl..."

The Doctor visibly flinched and turned her head away.

"Why won't you go back?"

"I can't. You know that I can't. It would kill me." She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked through the projection. "She's gone TARDIS. I've watched her dot on this screen for 200 years. 200 years of planets, and narrow escapes, and adventure. Then it was gone - she, she was gone. And just like I told her, I have to run and run in case the pain ever catches up. Joke's on me." She gave a wry smile. "It does. Pain. Pain always catches up." She busied herself with the controls and pulled the lever.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a meeting with the King.

She turned on her heel, ready to stride out of there, stop the TARDIS from continuing this conversation. Her handmade it to the door.

"Doctor."

She rubbed her face tiredly and risked a glance backward.

"How do you know that she's gone? Maybe something happened to the sonic sunglasses. Maybe she's still out there."

The Doctor paused then continued quietly. "I could just feel it. I saw her dot vanish and could just feel it in my bones. It must have gotten too hard for her - seeing all her loved ones come and go."

"Me is still on the radar, Doctor."

"Well, of course she is," the Doctor said bitterly. "Always there, always alive. Mocking me."

It was then that the TARDIS really looked at her thief. She looked different. She had different preferences, different speech patterns, a different style. She even acted differently, depending on the regeneration. But the Doctor was the same person as always - the one forced to remember when everyone else was gone. Eternal in the void. No matter what her thief did, she always lost even when she won.

They did nothing. They just stared at one another in the silence.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," the TARDIS said regrettably. She gave a small smile and the Doctor seemed to acknowledge it. "Anyways, don't you have a meeting to attend?"

The Doctor opened the doors and gave a small nod. The scent of sea salt flooded through the console room and the Doctor left.

The image of Idris leaned her head forward and closed her eyes. "Oh Clara Oswald. If only you were here." She sighed, and the projection disappeared. The TARDIS gave a small hum and quieted, patiently waiting for her thief's return.


	2. Chapter 2

Her eyes burned with the salt and the heat of Xanarok's summer. She licked her finger and held it out in front of her. Yes, the equivalent of early July and, approximately, 93 degrees Fahrenheit. The planet was indeed like Earth - it had an oxygen rich atmosphere, 4 distinct seasons, and had countless idiotic citizens which inevitably always needed saving from themselves. While there were many similarities, there were plenty of differences. Xanarok was a planet largely made up of small islands and was populated by elf-like humanoids. Their summers tended to be hotter and their winters tended to be harsher. However, their spring time and autumn was perfect. The temperatures were mild, and the grass and leaves changed colors to reflect the change in season. In spring, everything was pastel colored - the leaves turned a bright teal, the grass a shimmery pink. In summer, everything turned green again, then turned into deep purples and oranges as fall approached. It was a truly breath-taking sight. The Doctor smiled sadly, thinking of how Bill and Clara would have loved it.

She shook her head of the thoughts and pressed forward, gingerly lowering herself down a steep cliff. Her brow glistened with sweat as her muscles protested. The TARDIS could have been kind enough to materialize on the beach, but apparently decided the Timelord could use some exercise. She looked out and she frowned. That wasn't right. The expected beach was nowhere to be found and was instead replaced with what appeared to be a battlefield. She ran over, tripping on some rocks along the way. The field was gray, except where pools of red blood rested, undisturbed. Footprints and claw marks seemed permanently pressed into the ground.

The Doctor leaned forward. The blood didn't seem new - perhaps a couple weeks old. She licked it, her face screwing up with distaste. Definitely Xanian blood. Thick and sour. She looked around for some clues, finally eying a couple weapons. Hostep, potentially. They were crudely made but incredibly powerful. It wouldn't take many soldiers to create a blood bath.

"Doctor, is that you? Are you the Doctor?" A small child came running up and started roughly pushing her.

"You have to move, we have to move. They'll see us!"

"Who will see us?"

She felt a tap on her shoulder and slowly, hesitantly turned her head around. She saw them out of the corner of her eye - two Hostep soldiers, a male and a female. They were tall, muscular, their feathers as black as night. The Doctor gulped.

"I'm assuming you're not the welcoming committee, are you?"

The male sneered. "You assumed correctly."

"Oh, okay." Her eyes flickered to the boy. "Well in that case - run!" She quickly flipped around, pulling out her Sonic. Before the soldiers knew what was happening, a high screech assaulted their ears. They fell to the ground and tried to shield their skulls with their wings, but no relief came. The noise suddenly stopped, and they leapt to follow the attacker, but they were already gone.

* * *

The light was dim, as the windows had been boarded up. Candlelight revealed little, however the Doctor was able to see enough to recognize where they were. The boy had led her to the remains of a huge building and the door quickly swung open. Hands grabbed them and they were roughly pulled in. Around them, dozens, maybe even a hundred or more Xanians lay around them, huddled together in uncomfortable positions. They were dirty, and all of their skin looked pale and scared. The people holding them let go and started murmuring to one another as the Doctor looked around. They were in a castle, or rather what used to be a castle. Stone, marble, and other chunks of building material littered the rough floors. Tables were overturned, seemingly to block off other exits, and once regal items and decorations were used as clothing, bedding, and makeshift weapons.

"Septet, is that the Doctor? You found her?"

"Yes sir. I found her. I finally found her."

The Doctor turned to greet the man speaking. He looked older and oh so tired. His hair was matted, and his clothes were torn in multiple places.

"I can't believe it. You're finally here!"

"Yes, I am..." she said slowly. "What happened here?"

"We were attacked!" A woman in the corner attempted to stand but quickly fell back down. "They came out of nowhere. There weren't many of them, but we weren't prepared."

"Yes, Tsur is right. Hostep soldiers marched on our city. We didn't know what to do. Our military tried to fight them but had to fall back. We lost many people that day..." The old man's head drooped down before it snapped back up. "They raped and pillaged and murdered us. Some of us were able to run and hide. The others though, they were captured."

"If the castle is in this bad of condition, I'm assuming the King was captured too?"

"Yes. King Caisure was taken as prisoner. Those of us who survived managed to make it here and hide."

The Doctor frowned. "How long have you been here? What year is it?"

"3427, Doctor. It's been a month or two since we were taken over. It feels like much longer though."

"3427? That's impossible." She furrowed her brows. "3427 is supposed to be the height of your civilization. You were supposed to have a time of unparalleled industry advancement, advancement of medicine. You are supposed to be at peace for centuries..." She looked at the huddled masses, scanning for something, anything that would explain what was going on here.

Somewhere outside the walls of the ruined castle, ear-piercing caws and screeches could be heard. She looked up and scanned the ceiling with her Sonic. The Hostep were circling above them like buzzards impatiently awaiting their roadkill meal. A sense of dread filled the Doctor's stomach. It reminded her of the raven Clara faced, and along with it, reminded her of the helplessness she felt. She didn't want to ever feel that again, but she didn't know what to do. This point in history should have been fixed - this should have never happened, it couldn't have ever happened and yet here she was viewing the results. Time had changed, warped, and she didn't know why.

"I need to get back to my TARDIS. I'm sorry, but I can't help you here. I can't do anything unless I found out why and how this is happening."

"You can't go out there!" The boy wailed and gripped onto her braces. "You'll never make it. They'll cut you to ribbons with their claws, they'll rip your throat out with their beaks!"

The Doctor looked down at the child and tried to give an encouraging smile. "Okay, yeah, you're right. There's a 99 percent chance I'll be maimed and killed and eaten out there, but sometimes you've got to just focus on the 1. Unless I do this, you'll all be trapped here until you starve to death or die of heat exhaustion. Don't want to do that, now do you?" She looked at the crowd of people. Everybody slowly shook their heads.

"Okay, Doctor. You're right." A young man stood up. Me and some of the other warriors will escort you back to your box."

"No, Quindril, please no!" The woman beside him screamed and clutched his shirt. By her outburst, it was obvious she was close to him - maybe a wife or girlfriend.

"We don't have time for this." The Doctor muttered. Normally, this incarnation could put up with these displays, but both her patience and nerves had worn thin.

"She's right, Yania. There isn't any time. If we want to live, we have to trust the Doctor and do what she says." He took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If nothing else, trust me."

The woman seemed to consider it, then she nodded, her eyes shining with tears.

"I love you Quindril. I will always trust you. Just please promise me one thing." She paused. "Please try to come back."

Quindril gave a hint of a smile and nodded. "I will try." He kissed her hands gently and whispered something in Yania's ear.

The Doctor jerked her head away. She was annoyed but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel something burn deep in her hearts. Her eyes rested on the scene, but the only thing she saw was a pair of inflated brown eyes as she kissed soft knuckles goodbye.

 ** _'Don't run. Stay with me.'_**


End file.
